Report No. 76

11.6. Effect of failure to make award in time.-

A contravention of the time limit prescribed by rule 3 may not only cast doubts on the validity of the award, if made; it has certain other consequences, if the award is not made within the time limit. If the arbitrators do not make the award within the time limit, and the reference is to an even number of arbitrators, the umpire can enter on the reference under the First Schedule paragraph 4.

If the reference is to a sole arbitrator or to an odd number of arbitrators, the court can supersede the reference, if the reference was in a suit (section 25), or the parties may treat the case as one of neglect or refusal etc. [Section 8(1)(b)1, and have a fresh arbitrator appointed. The parties can also move the court for removing the arbitrators for failure to "use all reasonable dispatch" in the reference [Section 11(1)] and then have a fresh arbitrator appointed (section 12).